Thursday, 5 December 2013

E is for...Evergreen

The traditional colours of
Christmas are red and green. The red symbolises the blood of Jesus
when he was crucified. The green shows the evergreen leaves
throughout the winter and the continuance of life. Mixed together
they show where Christmas gets it origins from – Christian beliefs
combined with ancient pagan rituals.

The spiky holly leaves
symbolises the thorns in the crown Jesus was made to wear on the
crucifix with its red berries the drops of blood.The Christmas carol
of 'The Holly the Ivy' tells how, 'the holly bears the crown.' Whilst
this is obviously a nod to Jesus' crucifixion crown it was also
thought by men that holly was a strong, masculine plant and ivy a
feminine plant. So songs began to appear being sung by men praising
the holly and putting down the ivy. Women did the same thing by
literally singing their praises of ivy. More of the masculine songs
have survived over the years than the feminine ones. Perhaps I should
seek out a new plate...

Another evergreen still
popular today is mistletoe. In ancient times mistletoe was considered
a scared plant. The practice of kissing under the mistletoe comes
from an old fertility ritual. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that
grows on other deciduous trees. This coupled with its forked branches
and white berries gives it a rather sexual. Indeed, some churches to
this day ban it from being used as decorations.

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